An Italian cruise ship carrying 1,200 passengers and crew fended off a pirate attack near the Seychelles, company officials said Sunday. The ship was attacked on Saturday evening by armed pirates firing shots from a small speedboat, 330 kilometres from the Seychelles where the liner had last anchored.
Brazil’s Civil Aviation Agency, ANAC, announced Wednesday the gradual liberation of air fares for all international flights departing from Brazil. The decision applies to all regular airlines, national or international and will be arranged according to a one year chronogram.
The 2008/09 cruise season in Uruguay has come to an end over the weekend totalling 169 calls which is 87% higher than the previous season. However the big news is that while the port of the capital Montevideo virtually received the same number of tourists, the exclusive South Atlantic sea-side resort of Punta del Este almost doubled the calls.
Countries with ties to Antarctica have adopted US proposals to limit tourism in the region, in a bid to protect the fragile ecosystem of the continent.
Flights between Gibraltar and Spanish capital Madrid will be resumed later this month (April 30th) according to Andalus General Director Fernando Guerrero, who made the announcement this week at a presentation by the regional airline in the Campo Mancomunidad, in Algeciras.
Chile’s Valparaiso port authorities confirmed that 15 cruise voyages that were planning to visit the port next season have now been suspended. Making matters even worse, vacation cruise companies Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean and Discovery confirmed they no longer plan to dock in Chile because of high operational costs.
The stricken cruise ship Aurora has arrived back in Britain amid the threat of legal action from passengers, reports The Daily Telegraph. Engine trouble forced the ship to miss out three ports in New Zealand and two in the Pacific Islands on the £16,000 per passenger round-the-world trip.
Shares of Miami-based cruise operator Royal Caribbean jumped on Monday on news that the administration of President Barack Obama was allowing Cuban Americans to travel more freely to the Castro-family ruled island.
Visits to Chilean Patagonia’s Torres del Paine National Park were down slightly this tourist season, which began in October, 2008, and ended last month.
Albeit intensely debating the global economic downturn and its impact on tourism, this year’s Seatrade Miami Cruise convention – the world’s most important gathering of cruise industry professionals – has emitted a generally positive signal: The industry believes in continued growth.